Video taken of the incident and posted to X by Catholic Arena shows Absi, cloaked in traditional Muslim garb, approaching the altar as the priest was in mid-Liturgy of the Eucharistic prayer as parishioners stood and offered the sign of the cross.
QUEBEC
Islamic extremist and minor eceleb Nabil Absi stormed Mass in a Catholic Church and performed Islamic prayers pic.twitter.com/YJptPKhE5A
— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) January 25, 2024
Absi then rolled out his prayer mat and faced East, then knelt and recited Islamic prayers before standing up and walking out of the church. The location and name of the church are not noted in the video, and evidence of the bigoted performance has been scrubbed from Absi’s YouTube account. He has 285,000 subscribers.
Absi, a French national, notes on his Facebook account that he was on a recent trip to Canada, visiting Montreal.
In the video shared by Catholic Arena, the priest or congregants did not stop Absi.
The eucharistic prayer occurs before Communion and includes epiclesis, in which Catholics believe the bread and wine are consecrated as Christ’s body and blood in the presence of the Holy Spirit. This may explain why the congregation and priest did not react to Absi’s intrusion into Mass at what is considered a holy moment.
For Catholics, the Mass is “the source and summit of our life in Christ,” the very heart of our spirituality. The calm and peaceful response speaks to who we are, but is in no way representative of how shocking and hurtful this is. https://t.co/M1ckPRIioJ
— David Mulroney (@David_Mulroney) January 25, 2024
The stunt has drawn condemnation online from members of the Canadian parliament. Conservative MP Michael Barrett noted the act could be criminal.
This disruption of a Catholic Mass is appalling. It’s also a criminal act.
The reserved response of clergy and the gathered faithful isn’t indifference – it’s a testament to their devotion. https://t.co/VBVRrE9LJM
— Michael Barrett (@MikeBarrettON) January 25, 2024
Section 176.2 of the Canadian Criminal Code prohibits the interruption of a religious gathering.
Former Liberal MP, now independent Kevin Vuong, said the incident made a case for a reinstatement of the Office of Religious Freedom, a Conservative initiative the Liberal government did away with shortly after taking power in 2015.
This must be condemned as we would if this was done to any other religion. Similarly, more needs to be acted on re: acts of arson against 🇨🇦 churches.
The case for an Office of Religious Freedom with an intl AND domestic mandate becomes ever stronger to protect all of faith. https://t.co/JT8zxPEIUl
— Kevin Vuong (@KevinVuongMP) January 26, 2024
In March 2022, four men were convicted in the Islamic State murder of a Catholic priest in France.
The men were sentenced to between eight years and life for aiding in the attack on 85-year-old Father Jacques Hamel in his church in 2016. Two nuns and an elderly couple were held hostage before the terrorist slashed the priest’s throat and nearly killed another elderly churchgoer.
The two attackers, Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, both 19, were killed by police as they left the church.
Four other men – Rachid Kassim, Jean-Philippe Steven Jean-Louis, Farid Khelil and Yassine Sebaihia – were convicted in a French court for their role in the plot.
Kassim, a Frenchman and Islamic State recruiter was given life in prison, although he is believed to have been killed in a drone strike in 2017 in Iraq.
